2024 MNS Program Report: Workshop among various University Doctoral Students
“Tackling Questions Without Correct Answers”

December 2024

On November 25th and 26th, an inter-university exchange event was held with doctoral students from five universities: Niigata University, Ritsumeikan University, Nagoya University, Kobe University, and Hokkaido University. A total of 32 doctoral students participated, actively engaging in cross-university and interdisciplinary interactions. This year, Nagoya University served as the host institution, organizing the event at the Noyori Conference Hall.

The students were divided into six groups and engaged in discussions centered around this year’s theme: “Integrating individual research to develop initiatives aimed at achieving Well-Being.

The week before the event, online pre-meetings were held for each group, allowing participants to discuss their research, perspectives on well-being, and enthusiasm for the event in advance. This became a good warmup. During the icebreaker session on the event day, we used a game-based approach for participants to introduce each other, fostering mutual understanding among attendees. This helped create a relaxed atmosphere for the exchange to begin. The event was actively supported by student organizing committee members from Nagoya University, Niigata University, and Ritsumeikan University, who were involved from the planning stage to the pre-meetings, icebreakers, exchange party, and surveys.

In the group discussion, each group discussed how to achieve well-being, presenting challenges and approaches to well-being from diverse perspectives during the interim presentations on the first day. On the second day, the morning was dedicated to summarizing discussions and preparing for the presentations, followed by the final presentations and Q&A sessions in the afternoon. The content was more detailed and refined than the interim presentations, and the Q&A sessions were so lively that some of them exceeded the allotted time. The best group was selected by all participating faculty, staff, and students.

 

・”Very satisfied”: 67%, “Somewhat satisfied”: 33%
・ “Would definitely like to participate or would like to participate in a similar event in the future”: 74%

What participants learned through working with doctoral students from different fields:
・ “I learned a lot from approaches and ideas that I would never have come up with myself. It made me aware of the differences and gaps in understanding with people from other fields and gave me an opportunity to reflect on my own research.”
・ “There are few opportunities for doctoral students to interact with one another, so it was great to share the common struggles we face. It was very meaningful and educational.”

Challenges in working with students from different fields:
・ “Understanding the circumstances of students from other fields. For example, as a science student, it took me time to understand the financial situations and career development realities of humanities students. It was also difficult to empathize with their.

Written by Masumi Terasawa, Senior Academic Specialist